"Viewing the body as just a container for 'the real us' devalues the body...My deepest sense is that who and what we truly are is not in a body but is being expressed as a body. This realization helps cut through our looking down on our body as a mere 'it' container, or an incarnational inconvenience. We may talk of being trapped in our body but what we're really trapped by is our refusal to fully embody ourselves, to come alive right down to our toes, to honor our body as a wondrous expression of who and what we truly are."
- Robert Augustus Masters
 

Hello everyone!

It's been over a month since my last global e-newsletter. There's much to share and I will do my best to be as brief and succinct as possible, although by now you know that is not my strong suit! 

I heard or read (can't recall) the quote above sometime last year while I was building the curriculum for ArcanaDance's emotional alchemy series (our first part, Dancing with Fear, took place in February 2018). What stuck with me and resonated so powerfully that I never forgot it was "the body is not an incarnational inconvenience." Much of the emotional alchemy series (anger is next) is designed to explore what our society refers to as "shadow" emotions. It's the stuff that makes other people (and sometimes ourselves) uncomfortable - often due to its intensity: anger, rage, fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, grief...etc.

Several of you know that I opened my Dancing with the Devil workshop at the Northwest Tarot Symposium paraphrasing the quote above. As I spend time exploring, befriending and working with my own shadow, the more certain I am that somatic work is where and how I want my sacred work and legacy to be shaped. The process and practice of ArcanaDance has helped me more fully inhabit my own body and not see it as a separate thing that carries my potential but as an integral and integrated part of who I am, why I am, where I am and how I can embody my highest potential. It doesn't mean I don't have a complicated relationship with my own body and how my body feels and processes my life experiences. It simply means that I am willing and actively practicing working with it and give little to no time and energy to wishing it was different. 

Just a couple of weeks after presenting at NWTS and seeing so many people I love and adore in Seattle for Nia, ArcanaDance and tarot work, my nearly 101 year old abuelita fell and suffered a badly broken hip. There was a lot of uncertainty as to whether she'd survive a surgery. She did. And one of my best friends on this planet, Gina, who gets this newsletter, had zero doubt that my grandmother would make it through surgery. My abuelita has a reputation for being superhuman. Abuela is now in a rehabilitation center receiving 24/7 care and physical therapy several times a day. She still can't walk. She's in a ton of pain. She cries a lot. She is holding up but struggling. She told us "this body is useless, good for nothing." My brother cried. I cried. I thought about the quote above. I would never dismiss or dishonor her feelings. She feels how she feels. And it hurt my heart and brought up so many questions for me about how we can learn to inhabit our bodies with greater love, kindness, compassion, acceptance and resilience. I am not talking about being physical capable and healthy forever. I am idealistic but also realistic. I am thinking about how we can be in relationship with our bodies differently as we/they evolve, change, deteriorate, and become more fragile. I can't even bring myself to talk about what I've witnessed in how our elders are treated by the medical system. My head may explode. Instead, the question I am sitting with is - how CAN we collectively shift our perspective to our bodies being not only an incarnational convenience but a wondrous essential gift (in all its variations)? 

I will keep asking the question and would love to hear from you - what does this bring up for you? When you hear "your body is not an incarnational inconvenience," what comes up? 

ArcanaDance Training (the seeds are planted):
I'd love to hear from any of you that are interested in possibly becoming an ArcanaDance facilitator. Do you want to learn more about the process and practice for yourself? Do you want to explore how to craft an experience of ArcanaDance for a small group, large group, community or organization? I have heard from several people that they are interested in sharing ArcanaDance in some form or another. This work is my legacy work, it's dear to my heart and I am in the early stages of determining how to nurture its growth and expansion. I am open to all inquiries at this time. Please know that I may be slow to respond to email as I will be traveling from April 18 - May 8. Still, I want to hear from you! 


Following (scroll down to the end) is information on my upcoming offerings in Baltimore, Centralia and Seattle.

And heads up! Registration is open for the next ArcanaDance™ workshop in Seattle!
 

ArcanaDance™ Presents – The Dance of Emotional Alchemy: Transforming Anger through Tarot & Movement
 

• A physical exploration of the archetype of anger.
• Explore your unique pattern with anger.
• Learn to use somatic tarot as a tool to understand and reframe the emotional imprint of anger.
• Discover ways to embody the energy of anger for self-empowerment

 http://jenniferluceroearle.com/workshops-and-retreats 

Image used in flyer: Explorer of Fire, Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert (used with her permission)

NiaSeattle Article
A shout out to my Nia (Seattle) colleague and friend, Jeanna Wheeler, for this wonderful article published today in YWCA Works: https://www.ywcaworks.org/blogs/ywca/thu-04112019-0925/changing-lives-through-movement 
 

Calendar

My calendar has details for all Nia, Stretch & Fly, and ArcanaDance™ classes & events: 
http://jenniferluceroearle.com/calendar

With love and gratitude for each of you,
Jennifer